Sabres Prospects Take Traverse City Tournament

With all the attention being paid to Sabres free agent acquisitions this summer, the player development aspect of Terry Pegula's vision has gone pretty much unnoticed outside of Buffalo.

The Buffalo Sabres were a part of the Traverse City Prospects Tournament for the first time ever because their new owner, and the youngins, along with new Rochester Head Coach, Ron Rolston, did "Uncle Terry" proud with a 5-2 win over the NY Rangers prospects in the championship game.

There's much to be said when a team takes the championship in its first season and it's a big plus for Rolston as he heads into the professional ranks after years with the United States National Team Development Program. He did a masterful job of guiding the team throughout the tournament.

Foligno, who had two goals in the championship game, summed it up nicely, "When you make improvements and have new additions to the organization with rookies and bunch of guys who haven't made the NHL yet, and go into a tournament and pull a championship, it's exciting for the organization and exciting what's to come in the future for the Sabres," he told NHL.com.

Not to be forgotten in all of this, though, is the drafting of Kevin Devine. From 2008 2nd round pick, and captain, Luke Adam, to 2009 4th-rounder Foligno, to 2010 1st round pick Mark Pysyk, to 2011 3rd round pick Daniel Catenacci, the Sabres team had size and speed, plenty of snarl and showed that they have some finish as well. They scored 19 goals in the four games.

Some of the players like Foligno, Adam, Zack Kassian and Brayden McNabb, will be headed to the Sabres training camp tomorrow and will be able to use the tournament to get a leg up on the regular Sabres. Said Kassian, "everyone's in game shape already."

For Foligno, he'll be ready for camp and is looking to take it to the next level, "My goal is to play as many exhibition games as I can and do as well as I can," he said. "I want to continue this strong effort I had in Traverse right through main camp. It'll be fun with all the guys and to get to play with pros."


Whether they're headed to Sabres camp or back to their junior teams, the guys should have a lot of confidence heading into their respective seasons.

They did their owner proud by winning this tournament. Pegula has let the organization know that he has their backs. And the Traverse City Team let him know they respect that.